When Bob Geldof gathered dozens of European musicians together to sing Do They Know It’s Christmas? in the mid-’80s, he did it presumably because of the famine rampant in Ethiopia. I say presumably, because it’s possible Geldof just assumed all Ethiopians were atheists and would have no reason to know that it is the birthday of someone who they don’t even believe exists. Geldof was stream of conscious like that, recording multimillion dollar singles of things he wondered to himself in the shower. Do They Know It’s Christmas? followed by Why Would You Stop To Tie Your Shoe Right In Front Of the Escalator Exit?, followed by Who Thinks Coconut Is A Good Flavor? Think of all the classic songs we wouldn’t have had if Google existed in 1984. Anyway, the draw to the original Christmas fundraiser was to get superduper stars together, united toward a movement. When a bunch of big names all share one experience, it makes the event more noteworthy.

You’ll pardon me if I’m not totally unconvinced (double negative!) that Geldof didn’t have something to do with the last week of fantasy basketball, or the Maul-a-day Season, as it were. Listen to the all-star lineup amassed on the IR this week: John Wall and Andray Blatche missed a game and were listed as day-to-day, which has since turned into day-six-day. Shortly afterward, Stephen Curry, Jose Calderon and Chauncey Billups all went down with minor injuries that were supposed to keep them out of the lineup a day or two (that was three to seven days ago). Wednesday, the news ofJoakim Noah‘s 10-week injury rippled around fantasy leagues. Followed briskly by the news that Yao Ming‘s season and probably his career are over. Like the Oden injury in November, this means more for your March team or your 2011 team than it does for your team today. By now, you’ve moved past Yao. He wasn’t hurting you then, he likely won’t hurt you now. Rajon Rondo, on the other hand – that’s going to hurt you. He’s out a week or three, with only Nate Robinson to fill the void. Maybe 4/5 of the void, as Sugar Nate doesn’t cover much space … or the guy he’s assigned to defend. There’s not much you can do with this Yao news that you haven’t already done (except mourn the loss of a fun player to watch), but with all these fallen guards, you should be able to cover a bit of your losses with Rondo. There’s Ty Lawson, Reggie Williams, Jerryd Bayless, and Robinson in that order. And perhaps Goran Dragic‘s worth a stash too. Word ’round the campfire is Steve Nash‘s groin has been giving him fits. ’tis the season. Somebody better let him know it’s dis-miss time!

Here’s how the rest of Thursday went in fantasy basketball:

Trevor Booker – 11/9 in 31 minutes. He was cold from the floor and hot from the stripe. December JaVale is jealous of this line.

Devin Harris– Shot 28 percent from the floor, but made up for it by sinking all but three of his 17 free throws. It’s worth mentioning that both Harris’ percentages are way up this season. Up enough that a .280 shooting night doesn’t change anything.

Jordan Farmar – Farmar is averagign 22 more minutes, 8 more points and 3.5 more assists as a starter than as a reserve, but doesn’t look as comfortable as a SG as he does running the point. Probably for the same reason I don’t look as comfortable running in pumps as I do running in Pumps.™

Tim Duncan – 28/16/4 in 33 minutes. That’s about 14 points a half, seven points a quarter, 0.8 points a minute or .013 points a second. He easily leads the league in per second scoring. Disprove it!

Glen Davis – Tied his season-high in points (18) on his way to the second double-double of the year. After the game he e-mailed Shaq a LOLcatz image that said, “I can has all your double-doubles?” Shaq immediately found Davis’ girlfriend and slept with her.

Kevin Garnett – Three double-doubles in a row, seven in his last 10. There are just certain players I won’t ever want to own. Channing Frye, Marcus Camby, and Garnett are some of those players. I must be prejudice against gangly arms.

Jeff Teague – 18/4/3 with trio of steals. He was so happy that he lost his head and tried to high five Garnett. We’ll have to hear confirmation, but I’m pretty sure Jeff Teague is dead.

@Adam – Kenyon, Miller & Roddy all reside on our WW and appear close. I have JR (despite his dunk and Bulls rumors), Harden and Murphy (Nuggets rumors) available to drop. Do I pull the trigger for any of them and in what order?

@AnotherFalstaff: Kenyon, Miller and Roddy in that order (mostly because that’s the order they’re set to return). You might consider dropping Harden for Martin. You might want to wait to drop Murphy until you find out where or if he’s going. Same thing with Smith.

@Phil: Assuming both remain healthy, I think my projections on Martin still make sense. Howard’s might be a little lower across the board.

@brad: Both surprised and *pinkie to mouth* jazzed about the comeback.

@Taki: If you have a better alternative, I think Hawes is going to have a rough night. If you don’t have an alternate, what choice do you have?

@jleeishere: Calderon is still the guy there. Bayless isn’t much of a PG (he’s more of a SG) and I think, though there might be a timesahre, it won’t be as even as the Calderon/Jack. Re: Miller – depends on need. The two players don’t give you the same type of production.

Adam, I got offered Wes Matthews, Marc Gasol & Aaron Brooks for Chris Paul and Darko Milicic. I’ve pretty much been rejecting offers left and right for Paul all year, but for some reason I’m tempted to pull the trigger on this one. Please advise.

@PB&J: Unless your bench is really weak and you could use the bulking up, I’d stay away from this offer. It feels like you’re giving $1 bill and getting back $1.25 in dimes. It’s not unfair, but it might not be best for your team.

@HOTSAUCE: Sure. Essentially, the Kings have been monkeying around with the lineup all season, which has meant either Udrih has been benched, in a timeshare, or found his role otherwise lessened. And there’s really no reason to think Westphal won’t stop tinkering. The Cats, on the other hand, would love to replace Augustin, but don’t have many moves they can make to do it. Circumstance helps or hurts both of these guys. Augustin’s circumstance is better. Re: Wallace – He might improve a bit across the board, but the Bobcats are a pretty sad team this season and neither he nor Jackson have much help. This might be generally how his season goes.

@Tony: At this point, it’s more hype than anything else, though all signs DO point to him making a nice impact on the Mavs. A David West-sized impact? No.

@Adam: would you swap noah for west straight up or just ask for a few extra auction dollars to get him than not get him?

The guy announced he’s on the block to the league, so he’s getting offers. I just dont want to lose out on a $16 NOAH if i can reel him in…. would set me up really nice for next year. Again 20 teamer, im not contending this year, sell?

@Tony: Ultimately I think Noah is the better player, so if you’re sure you’re done this season, I’d go for it. Also, I’d rather have a $7 Big Baby, but mostly because I don’t think Cousins will be worth $32 next season.

@Adam: damn man i thought the guy was trying to con me down, defly didn’t think he’d make another deal over night! he dealt noah $16, moute, and gervaiz or whatever for Boozer$36, thabo, and cj miles….. so he made a good haul, i just dont trust boozer, he also got like $3 draft dollars and swapped a pick…. ughh, i wish i woulda just took what he offered me for Noah…. in the end if the dude trys keeping boozer next year its going to be more expensive than david west that I was dealing him. (im bangin my head against the wall right now).

@Adam: at $16 I think Noah is seriously more valuable than a Lebron or Durant in this league. I screwed up big not getting him. Shoulda pony’d up and not dikked around. I mean $16 for NOAH or $52 for Durant? Dollar for Dollar I’d take Noah. The owner dealt him and two total pieces of garbage for boozer, and 2 other nice producing pieces, he might have just secured the title for himself if he stays healthy now. He also might have dealt away his future. WIN NOW THO RIGHT? haha

@Tony: The thing that will end a team quicker than anything else is the inability to maintain perspective. My guess is the former owner of Noah got caught up in the “out 10 weeks” aspect and felt he had suprememly damaged goods, when in fact, missing 6-10 weeks out of a possible 45 in the next two seasons for a cheap $16 is still a huge value.